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Dolphin v11 Beta: UI refresh, bookmarks and tabs management

Firefox and Chrome might be the big boys of the browser market, but on Android, there is another name that consistently rises to the top. Dolphin Browser gives users many of the features of mainstream browsers and more via add-ons. And now with an upcoming major version 11 update, it is has added a few new features that will make it an even more enticing option for Android users.



On the visual side, Dolphin now sports an adaptive design that adjusts nicely depending on the device form factor, whether you are on a smartphone or a tablet. The right side panel, accessible via a swiping gesture, now houses oft used options like full screen or night mode for even quicker access. The bottom menu bar has also been redesigned to give the browser a cleaner and more streamlined look. There are also new themes, more than 40 in total, all available for free.


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Of course, the new version won't only be about appearances. Bookmark management has just gotten more powerful, allowing users to sort, import, and export bookmarks. New gestures have been added as well. Swipe up from the Dolphin icon in the bottom menu bar and you get quick access to Gestures and Sonar voice recognition functions. Swipe up from the tab list button in the menu bar and you get to easily close the current tab. While not as quick as Chrome for Android's undo closed tab feature, the tab list now offers a separate section for recently closed tabs. There is also a new add-on named One Tap that lets Dolphin hide in a floating circle bubble for loading pages in the background, similar to what browsers like Flynx, Javelin, and Link Bubble do.


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For all the power and convenience that Dolphin has to offer, it has one disadvantage. The browser is totally Android only and doesn't have any app for other platforms, so its Dolphin Connect syncing service doesn't extend to those as well. Still, if this is your type of browser and want to get an early hands-on experience for the beta version, you can sign up for the Dolphin Google+ Community in order to become a beta app tester.


SOURCE: +Dolphin





Sony may have ‘leaked’ Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact, smartwatch

As IFA 2014 in Berlin draws ever nearer, we are anticipating the big players to make major moves and launches as far as new products are concerned. Sony will be most likely one of those, and we are expecting to see its new flagship phone the Sony Xperia Z3, an Xperia Z3 Compact smartphone, and an Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact. The latter may have just been teased over at Sony’s Xperia Facebook page, together with a smartwatch device.



The rumors say that the Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact will be an 8-inch tablet powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, an ample amount of RAM at 2 or 3GBs, and most likely 1080p full HD resolution. Sony is known for its premium quality gadgets, and this would surely be a string lineup to highlight at IFA 2014.


The Sony Xperia Facebook page recently highlighted an app called “SmartBand Summer School” which showed off products that were inclined towards the summer season. Among the pictures was a poolside image highlighting a small tablet device and a smartwatch. The assumption to be made, of course, is that both products are water resistant.


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The information about the Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact have been scarce, and so this will be one of the main highlights for Sony in Berlin. And a new smartwatch too? Well, we have not heard a lot about that as well, and if they’re bringing it to IFA, then we’ll all be in for a treat.


SOURCE: Sony Xperia Facebook page





Is this LG’s new, round smartwatch?

LG’s G Watch can be considered the first Android Wear smartwatch, if you’re keeping track of that sort of thing. The Moto 360 was then the second, and rounded out the Android Wear offerings (see what I did there?). A few flagship wearables later, LG is back with a second smartwatch, and they’ve taken a hint from Motorola this time.




The video below is LG’s first teaser for their new watch, and guess what? It’s round, just like we’d been hearing it might be! Though light on actual details, the new LG smartwatch will indeed be round, and if you watch carefully — or, you know, look at the pic above — LG has given a hint at just what the hardware design may be.


The Moto 360 was widely praised for eschewing the square design for a more traditional round shape. If you take what LG is teasing as an accurate portrayal of their new watch, it will take “traditional” a step further. A more classic look, replete with a crown (which is usually for setting time or winding a watch, so who knows what a digital unit would need one for), should find those who like a more watch-looking smartwatch a very happy bunch.


We have no name, no actual look at the hardware, and no idea of what the interface may be. We do know it will launch at IFA next month, so keep a watchful (I did it again!) on Android Community, as we bring you all the details on the new LG smartwatch.









'Lemon Meringue Pie' Could Be Android's Most Delicious Branding Yet

'Lemon Meringue Pie' Could Be Android's Most Delicious Branding Yet


The most important part about any new Android version is what new features it brings to our smartphones—and to be sure—Android L is bringing plenty . But one thing we didn't know for sure is what delicious dessert would become its moniker. It looks like lemon meringue pie may be the winner.


Read more...
















Our Favorite Android, iOS, and Windows Phone Apps of the Week

Our Favorite Android, iOS, and Windows Phone Apps of the Week


Y'all must've been good little smartphone users, because Appaclaus brought a giant bag of new Android, iOS, and Windows Phone apps for you this week. Why is there an app-focused Santa, and why does he visit randomly in the middle of August? Nobody knows. Quit asking and start downloading!


Read more...
















Future Project Ara iteration to get a custom Rockchip chip

If you haven't heard much lately about Project Ara, it is for a very good reason. Aside from a problem with manufacturing that has delayed shipping developer units to Google I/O winners, the team has also struck up a partnership with chip maker Rockchip for a Project Ara processor.



Project Ara has experienced a minor manufacturing setback, but it isn't the end of the world yet. Apparently, the developer boards that were supposed to be sent as prizes to the I/O 2014 challenge were plated with the wrong material. The good news is that Google expects to ship out the correct boards in about two weeks, so just a bit more patience for those lucky enough to get one.


Perhaps the bigger news for those intently watching the project is that Project Ara has partnered with Rockchip, famous (or infamous) for selling mobile systems-on-chip at budget prices, to develop an SoC just for Project Ara. Now, while good old Rockchip already has many processors in the market, Project Ara has very peculiar needs. The new SoC is said to use a UniPro interface, a protocol that lets mobile components talk to each other in a generic and standardized way. This means that the SoC can function as an application processor (AP) and just that, just a node in a network and not its hub for all the other components. This also does away with the need for a separate bridge chip, which plays more into Project Ara's goals for a completely modular smartphone.


Before you get too excited, though, this new Rockchip chip won't be coming anytime soon. Project Ara head Paul Emerenko projects that this chip will only make its way the actual hardware around the third iteration, or "Spiral", of the design. And we still have yet to see Spiral 2 and its promise of more PCB space for module developers. That is most likely to come on or before the second Ara Developer Conference scheduled later this year. No month or date announced yet.


SOURCE: +Google ATAP





Most smartphone users download this many apps per month: zero

In summer of 2008, Apple introduced another game-changer that would affect the way people used smartphones moving forward – the iPhone App Store. This has now contributed to the global consciousness about apps, and Google saw that this was the only way to go to peddle its apps as well through the Android Market, concluding in the current incarnation of the Google Play Store. But why does comScore’s new data point to a staggering truth – that most smartphone users average ZERO app downloads in a month?



According to the same study, 52 percent – a little over half the time people spend on digital media (Internet, smartphones, tablets) are on apps. Yet the numbers of the report say this – that 65.5% of all smartphone users in the country average zero app downloads in a month. Only one third – roughly 30% -- download any apps at all, and that would be around 1 to 3 apps.


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What’s the deal? It’s not like these apps aren’t useful – the usage numbers say that more than half of US smartphone owners tapped and used apps on a daily basis (comScore). Are good apps too pricey? We all know that most apps are free, and even then, most paid apps average on from a few cents to a few dollars, and the market is such that it pushes prices down rather than up.


One suitable explanation maybe that over the years, the app saturation has gone on to very high levels that it pushes users to have an “app routine” – that is, get to know the apps that do the job for you, and stick to them like glue. Once a user falls into a routine, they will still have the same apps even if they upgrade devices – the Google Play Store has made this tremendously easy, and even I can say that I am glad for it.


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Another explanation may be that the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store – but more Apple than Google, really – has made it very difficult to discover new apps. The Apple App Store ecosystem is notorious for relying heavily on “top lists” and also known for not improving its search functions over the years. This only makes “editor’s picks” and bigger companies get all the profit and pushes an app – however ingenious it is – to the bottom.


The numbers won’t lie, the app ecosystem has pushed people to a state of non-discovery. It falls a lot to Android journalists and writers to discover and recommend the cool apps that need to be unearthed out the pile. But it also points to Apple and Google having to improve their market ecosystems, or else it might die a slow and painful death.


VIA: QZ





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